Weapon

Contents

Unless your character has access to magical powers, weapons are how you deal damage. There are many different kinds of melee and ranged weapons. While most weapons require some amount of training to use well, almost anyone can pick up a weapon and attempt to use it to deal damage to another creature.

Like all tools, weapons may be crafted as a masterwork or infused with magic to increase their damage and accuracy, and to give them additional magical properties. An enhanced weapon’s enhancement bonus is added to both the weapon’s attack and damage rolls.

Melee weapons deal damage at close range. There are seven categories of melee weapons; most use your Strength to determine your proficiency. All melee weapons use your Strength modifier to determine their melee damage bonus.

Some melee weapons have the reach property. These weapons can perform attacks against creatures that are not adjacent. The number after the weapon's reach property indicates the number of additional paces that the attack can reach into. Melee weapons which do not have the reach property may only attack adjacent creatures.

All ranged weapons have a range, which is listed as a pair of numbers separated by a slash. The first number is the weapon's short range - attacks can be made against targets this many paces away without penalty. Attacks made against creatures further away suffer a -2 range penalty, out to a maximum range equal to the number after the slash.

Versatile weapons may be wielded one-handed or two-handed. When wielded two-handed, a versatile melee weapon gains +1 to damage for each weapon damage die that is rolled. Versatile ranged weapons also exist, which may be wielded one-handed or two-handed, but suffer a -1 penalty to accuracy when wielded one-handed. Small creatures must wield versatile weapons as if they were two-handed weapons, and gain no bonus for doing so.

When you wield a single weapon, that weapon is considered your main weapon. If you wield two weapons, the larger is considered your main weapon, and the smaller is considered your secondary weapon. If both weapons are the same size, you may choose which is your main weapon and which is your secondary weapon.

Weapons deal one of three damage types: slashing, piercing, and bashing. A weapon's base damage is determined by a die roll - weapons may deal a D4, D6, D8, D10, or D12 damage. When an action block refers to a weapon's damage die, it will use the code 1dW - this means to roll the weapon's damage die and use that number as the weapon's damage. Some actions will deal additional damage - this will be listed as 2dW or 3dW or more. Roll a number of the weapon's dice equal to the number listed before the 'dW', and add them together.

Weapons also deal additional damage based on your melee damage bonus, which is equal to your Strength modifier, or your ranged damage bonus, which is equal to your Dexterity modifier. When you deal damage with a weapon, roll the weapon's damage die and add your melee or ranged damage bonus to the result.

Weapons are divided into 10 categories, called weapon groups. Each group requires a certain amount of training to use accurately; your training in a weapon group is called Proficiency. Like skills, having proficiency in a weapon group grants you a training bonus when wielding a weapon in that group. In addition to the 11 weapon categories, there are two unarmed proficiencies, which represent training in bare-handed attacks.

Unarmed attacks deal damage at close range. If you are not wielding a weapon, you may still make a basic unarmed attack, which deals 1d4 bashing damage. Your Unarmed proficiency is based on the higher of your Strength or Dexterity. Some weapons, such as katars, use the same essential proficiency as unarmed attacks.

Characters with at least one arm free may attempt to grab and hold other creatures. Your Grappling proficiency is based on the higher of your Strength or Constitution. Some weapons, such as razor harnesses, use the same essential proficiency as grapple attacks.

Blades are small, one-handed melee weapons with a cutting edge. They are better suited for finesse than brute strength; your Blades attack modifier is based on the higher of your Strength or Dexterity. Some Blades can also be used as Thrown weapons.

Bludgeons are weighted melee weapons that deal damage through blunt crushing force rather than sharp edges, although some bludgeons are augmented with spikes to increase their damage. Your Bludgeon proficiency is always based on your Strength.

Hammers are weighted melee weapons that deal damage through blunt crushing force rather than sharp edges. Some Hammers can also be used as thrownweapons. Your Hammer proficiency is always based on your Strength.

Thrown weapons are anything small enough or balanced enough to be picked up and thrown at an enemy. Some light melee weapons are also balanced to be used as thrown weapons. Your Thrown proficiency is based on your Dexterity, but uses your melee damage bonus rather than your ranged damage bonus to determine damage. Some weapons are thrown weapons and also fall under a different weapon group, such as spear or light blade; you always use your Thrown proficiency when using the weapon at range, and use the weapon's other proficiency when performing a melee attack with that weapon.

The area is filled with smoke, which grants partial concealment if line of sight passes through one to two spaces of smoke, or total concealment of line of sight passess through three or more spaces of smoke.

Miss:

The attack scatters 1d4 paces in a random direction for every 5 points that your check result missed the difficulty by - roll 1d8 to determine direction.

Crossbows are ranged weapons that use tension to fire a small sharpened bolt into a target at great speed. Crossbows are simpler to learn to use than bows, but typically take more effort to reload and deliver their projectiles with slightly less force and accuracy. Your Crossbow proficiency is always use your Dexterity.